life cycle environmental impact study for europe, middle east … · life cycle environmental...

Life Cycle Environmental Impact Study

For Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

HP LaserJet Toner Cartridges vs.

New Build Compatible & Clone Cartridges

SUMMARY REPORT

January 2018

By:

Four Elements Consulting, LLC Seattle, WA

LCA for LaserJet Cartridges for the North America Region Four Elements Consulting, LLC

Contents

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 1

Summary Report ..................................................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 1

Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................... 1

Products Studied ............................................................................................................................................ 1

Adherence to the ISO Standards .................................................................................................................... 2 System Boundaries ......................................................................................................................................... 2

Data Sources ................................................................................................................................................... 2

Function and Functional Unit ......................................................................................................................... 3

Modeling and Assumptions .................................................................................................................................... 3

Production ...................................................................................................................................................... 3

Distribution ..................................................................................................................................................... 3

Use .................................................................................................................................................................. 3

End of life ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

Results .................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Baseline results .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Life Cycle Stage Contribution Analysis ........................................................................................................... 5

Sensitivity Analyses ............................................................................................................................................ 8

Sensitivity of Page Use Distribution ............................................................................................................... 8

Sensitivity of End of Life ................................................................................................................................. 8

Sensitivity of Duplex ....................................................................................................................................... 9

Data Quality Requirements and Evaluation ...................................................................................................... 10

Temporal, Geographical, and Technological Representativeness .............................................................. 10

Consistency ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Reproducibility .............................................................................................................................................. 10

Precision and Completeness ........................................................................................................................ 10

Limitations and Uncertainty ................................................................................................................................. 10

General Limitations and Uncertainty ........................................................................................................... 10

Missing Production Data ............................................................................................................................... 10

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 11

Appendix 1 SpencerLab Page Category Examples ............................................................................................... 12

Appendix 2 Summary of Data .............................................................................................................................. 13

Appendix 3 Indicator Descriptions ....................................................................................................................... 14 Tables

Table 1 Summary of Cartridges Studied ................................................................................................................ 1

Table 2 Print Quality Distribution ........................................................................................................................... 3

Table 3 Page Use Distribution ................................................................................................................................ 4

Table 4 Pages printed to obtain 100 Usable Pages ............................................................................................... 4

Table 5 Baseline Results ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Table 6 Contribution Analysis - Life Cycle of HP Cartridge .................................................................................... 5

Table 7 Contribution Analysis - Life Cycle of NBC Cartridge .................................................................................. 6 Table 8 Sensitivity Analysis on End of Life – Fates for the HP and NBC Cartridges ............................................. 8

Table 9 Sensitivity Analysis – Duplex ..................................................................................................................... 9

Table 10 Summary of the Cartridge Data used in the Study ............................................................................... 13 Figures

Figure 1 System boundaries ................................................................................................................................... 2

Figure 2 NBC Results Compared to HP Results ...................................................................................................... 5

LCA for LaserJet Cartridges for the North America Region Four Elements Consulting, LLC

Figure 3 Contribution Analysis by Life Cycle Stage – Global Warming .................................................................. 7

Figure 4 Contribution Analysis by Life Cycle Stage – Global Warming in Absolute Values ................................... 7

Figure 5 Sensitivity Analysis on Page Use – Global Warming ............................................................................... 8

Figure 6 Sensitivity Analysis on End of Life - Global Warming ............................................................................. 9

Figure 7 Print Quality Categoriesvi ....................................................................................................................... 12

LCA for LaserJet Cartridges for the EMEA Region Page 1 Four Elements Consulting, LLC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY HP Inc. commissioned Four Elements Consulting, LLC, to perform an environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing Original HP LaserJet toner cartridges with New Build Compatible (NBC) and clone cartridges sold as substitutes (collectively referred to as NBCs). The 2017 study on the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, mirroring an externally peer-reviewed 2017 LCA of the same subject covering North America (NA), adheres to the International Standards Organization (ISO) 14040 series and evaluates all phases of the life of the cartridges, from material sourcing, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life disposition. This Summary Report presents the results of the LCA. The goal of this study was to provide a comparative environmental assessment utilizing the most current research and data on production practices, disposition trends, product quality, and usage trends of Original HP toner cartridges and NBC alternatives in EMEA. The study found that, as in previous HP LCA studies, paper consumption during printing is the largest contributor to the environmental impact across all phases of the life cycle for both the Original HP toner cartridge and the NBC alternative. The study also shows that in all assessed categories, the Original HP cartridge showed lower environmental impact than the NBC alternative. Optimized print quality performance minimized the environmental impact for the Original HP cartridge because fewer pages were reprinted. For customers who print documents for both internal and external purposes, and who are concerned about the environmental impact of their cartridge choice, Original HP cartridges are a wise choice compared to NBC alternatives. The study also found that for users whose print quality requirements are not high, the environmental impact of Original HP cartridges is still lower than NBCs, thanks to advanced cartridge recycling processes within HP’s Planet Partners program and the lack of recycling infrastructure for, or reusability of, NBC cartridges.

SUMMARY REPORT

INTRODUCTION

For over a decade, HP has been evaluating life cycle environmental impacts of its LaserJet toner cartridges; the most recent set of studies were in 2016, where HP commissioned Four Elements Consulting, LLC, to perform life cycle comparisons of Original HP toner cartridges and remanufactured cartridges sold in the NA, EMEA, Asia, and Latin America markets. This LCA carried over the same methodology and goals, this time comparing Original HP toner cartridges to NBC cartridges sold as substitutes. The study utilized the most current research and data for production practices, disposition, and product quality for Original HP toner cartridges and NBCs sold in the EMEA markets. The external peer review for the NA study consisted of three experts, ensuring a sound methodology, high credibility and objectivity of the data and results, and conformance with the ISO standards for an LCA. The results are summarized below.

METHODOLOGY Products Studied HP selected the CF280A (80A) and CF283A (83A) toner cartridges for this study. These models are popular top-sellers in EMEA that have a wide selection of aftermarket cartridges available, including NBCs. They also cover different customer bases, reaching a broad range of users. The 80A model is a top-selling mono print cartridge model. The 83A has replaced the CE278A, which has been a top-selling mono print cartridge model, and the 83A has proven to be a top seller for its target markets. For the LCA, the two cartridges were averaged into one hypothetical cartridge model. The life cycle data weighting for these two cartridges is based on the number of cartridges shipped in fiscal year 2015, multiplied by their ISO page yield.i A separate analysis was run during the production of the NA study that evaluated each cartridge model separately; since the results did not vary significantly from one model to the next and did not change any outcomes of the study, the hypothetical model was used.

Table 1 Summary of Cartridges Studied

Cartridge SKU HP Original

Printer Page Yield

Wt.Avg Split Relevance to this study

CF280A (80A) LaserJet Pro 400 M401

2,700 76% Significant contributor to its target markets: SMB and Enterprise

CF283A (83A) LaserJet Pro MFP M127fn

1,500 24% Significant contributor to its target markets: home office and small business

The HP 80A and 83A cartridges were compared to NBC cartridge substitutes. This study defines an NBC, or New Build Compatible, as a new replacement cartridge made with a shell, components and ink or toner that are produced by a company NOT affiliated with a printer hardware manufacturer. It is also known as a compatible, or a Non-OEM New Build. An NBC can sometimes be a clone,


or an NBC that violates the OEM’s intellectual property.ii This analysis does not intend to mirror one specific brand of NBC cartridge; it is acknowledged that there is broad variability in the NBC industry. The cartridges are modeled as single use. At the end of useful life, Original HP toner cartridges are assumed to be recycled through HP’s Planet Partners recycling program, utilizing existing packaging and free shipping. NBC cartridges are likely not remanufactured or recycled. According to printing industry analyst InfoTrends Research (InfoTrends), remanufacturers reject NBC cartridgesiii due to quality issues of the incoming cartridges. Furthermore, remanufacturing clones becomes an IP violation that remanufacturers need to avoid. State of the art recycling facilities throw away laserjet and inkjet cartridges collected with other recycling due to lack of infrastructure to disassemble cartridges and separate materials. iv Adherence to the ISO Standards This LCA adheres to the principles, framework and guidelines in ISO 14040 and 14044.v LCA is a tool for the systematic evaluation of the environmental impacts of a product through all stages of its life cycle, which include production, distribution to the customer, use of the cartridge, and end of life.

System Boundaries Figure 1 presents the study’s system boundaries. Life cycle phases include production, distribution to the customer, use of the cartridge, and end of life (EOL).

Figure 1 System boundaries

Data Sources HP provided data on the HP cartridges including the bill of materials, place of manufacture, packaging specifications, printing specifications, and cartridge recycling practices. HP commissioned SpencerLab, an internationally recognized leader in independent research and comparative analysis of print system performance, to test the print quality and reliability performance of the Original HP 80A and 83A cartridges and compare them to top selling NBC brands in EMEA.vi In 2017, HP commissioned Photizo Group to conduct a Customer Experience study which provided intended page use data for customers who use HP LaserJet printers.vii The studies by SpencerLab and Photizo Group were used to establish the number of printed pages required to attain 100 usable printed pages, the basis upon which the comparison is made (next section). Key assumptions were checked for sensitivity. Secondary data sources were evaluated for temporal, geographical, and technological coverage. Data available from LCA software databases were evaluated, and the most current and/or best quality data available at the time of the study were used. SimaPro, a commercial LCA software product, was used to model and calculate the LCA.viii The study included data from the latest available version of the Ecoinvent database.ix Utilizing the most current available data, especially from a well-known and accepted database, enhances the quality of the study and increases its transparency, reliability, and confidence level.


Function and Functional Unit In order to conduct an ISO-compliant LCA, all flows within the system boundaries must be normalized to a unit summarizing the function of the system, enabling the comparison of products or systems on an equivalent basis. The function of a cartridge is to print pages. Because cartridge print quality performance has been evaluated, the function incorporates the print quality differences. Thus, the function of the system has been defined as printing to obtain usable pages for their intended use. With the function defined, a “functional unit”, or reference flow, is chosen in order to calculate the systems on that quantitative basis. For this study, the functional unit is defined as “the printing of 100 usable monochrome one-sided pages,” which includes printing 100 pages plus any reprinting needed to satisfy the intended use. The SpencerLab study defined print quality in terms of the acceptability of the printed pages. Including the Photizo Group page use distribution as part of the definition of the functional unit is an important study assumption. The relationship between how one uses a printed page and the required print quality determines the amount of reprints one might experience.

MODELING AND ASSUMPTIONS

The sections below summarize each life cycle stage’s modeling and assumptions. Appendix 2 provides the data and assumptions.

Production The HP cartridge Production Phase includes the production of over 99.5% by mass of the materials in 80A and 83A cartridges, including parts forming (e.g., injection molding of plastic into cartridge parts, parts forming of aluminum and steel parts, etc.). Since an NBC cartridge is intended to be a duplicate of an OEM cartridge, it is modeled using the same parts and materials as the HP cartridge due to lack of specific data on the materials in the NBC and the high variability across NBC manufacturers. Nonetheless, it is acknowledged that NBC cartridges may be made using very different materials. Overall differences are probably minimal, however, as identical sets of parts – regardless of material – still need to be manufactured and formed. Production also includes intermediate and final assembly but no data were available for this aspect of production. The HP OEM assembly process is automated while NBCs are largely manufactured with manual labor (i.e., with drills and other pneumatic tools). A more automated and precise OEM assembly plant may be relatively more energy intensive than a plant using mostly manual labor. But more manual labor increases the human-related impacts, such as transportation of workers to the factory, plus lighting and human labor-related aspects. The implications and limitations of the energy and processing data gaps are addressed in the Limitations section.

Distribution The Distribution Phase refers to the delivery of the packaged Original HP and the NBC cartridges from final assembly to the end user.

Use Use Phase modeling accounts for the amount of paper and printer energy needed to print 100 usable pages. Information on pages printed and printer energy are found in Table 10. The paper production model, based on a comprehensive North American paper and printing LCA completed in 2010x is described in the Data Quality section (p. 10). Page quality performance was assessed in the SpencerLab study where a sample of Original HP and NBC cartridges were evaluated and 64 pages were taken at periodic intervals over the life of each cartridge tested. The sampled pages were graded on overall print quality using a scale created from a psychometric research study of business laser printing users. The psychometric research provided a scale in which print quality could be sorted into four acceptability levels or categories, described as follows and summarized with the SpencerLab test results

in Table 2.vi

1. All uses, including External Use: Acceptable for all uses, including distribution outside a company to customers, vendors, suppliers, etc. Examples: marketing materials to promote the company or products, official company correspondence, invoices.

2. Internal Use: Acceptable for distribution inside a company, but not acceptable for distribution outside a company. Examples: documents to distribute to colleagues, immediate superiors or subordinates as business communication.

3. Individual Use: Individual use only; usable as a copy to read, file or mark-up but not acceptable for distribution, either within or outside a company.

4. Unusable: Not acceptable for any business purpose.

Table 2 Print Quality Distribution External Use Internal Use Individual Use Unusable

HP Cartridges Tested 95.1% 4.3% 0.6% 0.0%


Average NBC Cartridges Tested 46.8% 46.7% 6.1% 0.4%

From the SpencerLab study, HP learned that print quality acceptability depends on the intended use for the pages being printed. The psychometric study demonstrated that in business settings, some minimum level of print quality is necessary for External, Internal or Individual use. If the minimum required print quality level for the intended use is not met, the page may be reprinted. From the acceptability categories, it could be deduced when a customer might reprint a page that is not suitable for the use it was intended. For example,

1. External use pages would not need to be reprinted for any purpose as they are of the highest quality. 2. Internal use pages would need to be reprinted if the intended use was for external distribution. 3. Individual use pages would need to be reprinted if the intended use was for internal or external distribution. 4. Unusable pages would need to be reprinted for any intended use.

The Photizo Group study surveyed HP LaserJet users in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and U.K. on their printing behavior in the work environment, and the resulting page use was distributed across three categories: “External Use”, “Internal Use”, and “Individual Use”. vii These categories corresponded to the page use categories from the SpencerLab study shown in Table 2. The Photizo page use distribution was used for the baseline analysis. Sensitivity analyses were performed to examine the case in which a user requires all output to be used for external communication, with reprinting required for all pages not of the highest quality, and another case in which a user prints for individual use only, where lower quality prints are acceptable. Table 3 summarizes the distributions for each scenario.

Table 3 Page Use Distribution

External Use Acceptable for all

uses

Internal Use Limited use: Not for external distribution

Individual Use Limited use: Not for

distribution

Baseline Photizo Group 35.6% 44.0% 20.3%

Sensitivity 100% External Use 100% 0% 0%

100% Individual Use 0% 0% 100%

Page use was combined with print quality performance to calculate the number of pages where reprinting is required to meet the intended use and, hence, total number of pages printed in order to obtain the functional unit of 100 usable pages. To account for uncertainty associated with the use and quality results, Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate the average number of prints needed to obtain 100 usable printed pages:

Table 4 Pages printed to obtain 100 Usable Pages

Total pages printed to obtain a functional unit % More NBC

Pages Printed % Less HP

Pages Printed HP NBC

Baseline Photizo Group 102 128 25% 20%

Sensitivity 100% External Use 105 215 105% 51%

100% Individual Use 100 100 0% 0%

End of life End of life Phase refers to the fate of the cartridge after toner depletion. The used HP cartridge is assumed to be returned for recycling through HP Planet Partners Return and Recycling Program. The NBC cartridge is assumed to be thrown away into the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, which includes landfilling (41%) and incineration with energy recovery (waste-to-energy (WTE)) (59%)xi, since it is not able to be recycled. Sensitivity analyses looked at results where the HP cartridge was thrown away into the MSW stream and the NBC cartridge goes to a recycling facility should infrastructure be available.

RESULTS Baseline results Table 5 and Figure 2 present results for the baseline comparison. The second to last column in the table shows that the environmental impacts for the NBC cartridge are 26% or higher in all categories. Conversely, in the last column, the impacts of the HP cartridge range from 21% to 31% lower than the NBC cartridge. As mathematical models of complex systems, all LCAs have inherent limitations that result in some level of uncertainty (see the limitations section for more details). As a result, one cannot


definitively conclude that one alternative is better than another without accounting for some margin of error, and a +/- 10% margin of error has been applied to these results. Since none of the baseline results fall within this range, it can be said that the NBC cartridge impacts are higher than HP in the impact categories measured.

Table 5 Baseline Results

Impact category Unit HP

Cartridge NBC

Cartridge NBC % Higher

than HP HP % Lower

than NBC

Global warming kg CO2 eq 8.4 E-01 1.2 E+00 + 45% - 31%

Terrestrial acidification kg SO2 eq 6.0 E-03 8.0 E-03 + 34% - 26%

Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 1.5 E-04 2.1 E-04 + 37% - 27%

Human carcinogenic toxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 5.0 E-02 7.2 E-02 + 42% - 30%

Ozone formation, Human health kg NOx eq 2.8 E-03 3.8 E-03 + 39% - 28%

Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 2.8 E-04 3.8 E-04 + 37% - 27%

Water consumption m3 1.0 E-01 1.3 E-01 + 26% - 21%

Fossil resource scarcity kg oil eq 2.5 E-01 3.5 E-01 + 43% - 30%

Total energy (CED) MJ 2.9 E+01 3.8 E+01 + 32% - 24%

Figure 2 NBC Results Compared to HP Results

Life Cycle Stage Contribution Analysis Table 6 and Table 7 present a breakdown of impact category results across the four defined life cycle stages of the cartridges. Figure 3 depicts the Global Warming metric. These results illustrate that the “Use Phase,” and specifically paper use, is the largest contributor to the environmental impact of a toner cartridge. This is the case for both Original HP and NBC cartridges. Note that the negative values for end-of-life represent the offset of materials at recycling and the energy offset from WTE (see EOL assumptions in Table 10).

Table 6 Contribution Analysis - Life Cycle of HP Cartridge

Impact category Unit HP TOTAL HP

Production

HP Distribution

to User HP Use Phase

HP EOL - Recycling program

+45%

+34%+37%

+42%+39%

+37%

+26%

+43%

+32%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

110%

120%

130%

140%

150%

160%

Global warming Terrestrialacidification

Freshwatereutrophication

Humancarcinogenic

toxicity

Ozone formation,Human health

Terrestrialecotoxicity

Waterconsumption

Fossil resourcescarcity

Total energy (CED)

HP Baseline = 100%


Global warming kg CO2 eq 8.4 E-01 25% 4.5% 84% -13.2%

Terrestrial acidification kg SO2 eq 6.0 E-03 14% 3.0% 90% -6.7%

Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 1.5 E-04 35% 0.2% 79% -13.6%

Human carcinogenic toxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 5.0 E-02 94% 0.2% 20% -14.2%

Ozone formation, Human health kg NOx eq 2.8 E-03 15% 7.8% 85% -7.7%

Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 2.8 E-04 25% 4.1% 75% -4.1%

Water consumption m3 1.0 E-01 13.7% 0.2% 87% -0.6%

Fossil resource scarcity kg oil eq 2.5 E-01 26% 5.2% 82% -12.5%

Total energy (CED) MJ 2.9 E+01 12% 2.0% 91% -4.9% Note: 0% implies value less than 0.1%

Table 7 Contribution Analysis - Life Cycle of NBC Cartridge

Impact category Unit NBC

TOTAL NBC

Production

NBC Distribution

to User NBC Use

Phase

NBC EOL - Waste

Manage

Global warming kg CO2 eq 1.2 E+00 22% 6.2% 72% -0.1%

Terrestrial acidification kg SO2 eq 8.0 E-03 12.9% 4.4% 84% -1.4%

Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 2.1 E-04 32% 0.3% 72% -3.9%

Human carcinogenic toxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 7.2 E-02 83% 0.3% 17% -0.8%

Ozone formation, Human health kg NOx eq 3.8 E-03 14% 11.2% 76% -1.5%

Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 3.8 E-04 23% 8.6% 69% -0.2%

Water consumption m3 1.3 E-01 13.6% 0.2% 86% -0.1%

Fossil resource scarcity kg oil eq 3.5 E-01 23% 7.2% 72% -1.7%

Total energy (CED) MJ 3.8 E+01 11.2% 3.1% 87% -0.9% Note: 0% implies value less than 0.1%


Figure 3 Contribution Analysis by Life Cycle Stage – Global Warming

While it appears as though HP has higher overall impacts using percentages, viewing the cartridges’ results in absolute numbers in Figure 4 tells the story differently; here, the NBC’s production and distribution impacts are greater than the HP cartridge. Due to the higher number of NBC reprints exhausting toner supply (Table 4), approximately 1.3 NBC cartridges are needed to obtain the same output quality as an HP OEM, necessitating more frequent replacement. The need to reprint causes not only more paper to be produced but also higher production and other life cycle stage impacts.

Figure 4 Contribution Analysis by Life Cycle Stage – Global Warming in Absolute Values

25%

4.5%

84%

-13%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Production Distribution Use End-of-life

22%

6%

72%

-0.1%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Production Distribution Use End-of-life

0.21

0.04

0.70

-0.11

0.26

0.08

0.88

-0.001

-0.15

0.00

0.15

0.30

0.45

0.60

0.75

0.90

Production Distribution Use End-of-Life

kg C

O2-

eq

HP

NBC


SENSITIVITY ANALYSES

Sensitivity of Page Use Distribution As has been demonstrated, cartridge performance and page use have a critical influence on the cartridge’s environmental life cycle metrics. In order to examine the degree of influence that page use has on the results, two sensitivity analyses were performed: one in which all prints were used for external purposes (distribution outside of the company or marketing material) and one in which all prints were for individual use (usable as a copy to read, file or mark-up).

The Global Warming metric is used to present the sensitivity results in Figure 5. When the page use is for external purposes only,

the need for higher quality (customer ready prints) pages require the user to reprint more pages if using an NBC cartridge – 105% more pages than when using an Original HP cartridge (see Table 4). As a result, the NBC cartridge Global Warming life cycle impact jumps to 137% higher (or nearly 1.4 times higher) than HP. When prints are used for individual use only, which are of much lower quality, both cartridge types print the same number of pages. However, the NBC cartridge is still higher than the HP cartridge owing to HP’s recycling at end of life giving benefit to the HP cartridge. While these two page use extremes are not common scenarios, the results illustrate that as user print quality requirements increase, the environmental advantage offered by the Original HP cartridge also increases. When low quality prints are acceptable, the HP cartridge still has the environmental advantage since it benefits from recycling through HP Planet Partners program.

Figure 5 Sensitivity Analysis on Page Use – Global Warming

Sensitivity of End of Life Different end of life scenarios were assessed for sensitivity, summarized in Table 8. The Global Warming category was used to present the results in Figure 6.

Table 8 Sensitivity Analysis on End of Life – Fates for the HP and NBC Cartridges Model

Affected Baseline assumption Sensitivity assumptions

HP Cartridge is recycled through HP’s Planet Partners recycling program at end of life.

Cartridge is disposed of in the MSW stream at end of life. Benefits of recycling are no longer applied.

NBC Cartridge is disposed of in the MSW stream at end of life.

Cartridge is recycled at end of life, assuming technology is in place to disassemble and recycle cartridge parts.

+45%

+16%

+137%

0%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

Baseline 100% Individual Use 100% External Use

HP

NBC

HP Baseline = 100%


Figure 6 Sensitivity Analysis on End of Life - Global Warming

The HP baseline (solid blue) is on the far left, with its corresponding sensitivity analysis to its right. The NBC baseline has a dark grey fill with its corresponding end of life scenario to its right. Results are normalized to the HP baseline, and the percentages shown are the net difference. When the HP cartridge is thrown away instead of recycled at the end of life, the overall Global Warming impact increases by 13% because there is no benefit from material recovery. When the NBC cartridge is recycled at the end of life, its Global Warming impact decreases by 16% due to material recovery from recycling and energy offsets from WTE. Still, since the lower performing NBC cartridge drives the number of reprints higher, the use phase still dominates the life cycle impacts. Sensitivity of Duplex The effect of duplex was evaluated on the baseline results, using HP internal data on monthly print volume and duplex use rates on these specific office printer models. An overall weighted average of 11.4% of pages saved was used.xii

Table 9 Sensitivity Analysis – Duplex

Duplex Results Baseline

Impact category Unit HP

Cartridge NBC

Cartridge % Difference (NBC vs. HP)

% Difference (NBC vs. HP)

Global warming kg CO2 eq 7.6 E-01 1.1 E+00 47% 45%

Terrestrial acidification kg SO2 eq 5.4 E-03 7.3 E-03 35% 34%

Freshwater eutrophication kg P eq 1.4 E-04 1.9 E-04 39% 37%

Human carcinogenic toxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 4.9 E-02 7.0 E-02 43% 42%

Ozone formation, Human health kg NOx eq 2.5 E-03 3.5 E-03 40% 39%

Terrestrial ecotoxicity kg 1,4-DCB e 2.5 E-04 3.5 E-04 38% 37%

Water consumption m3 9.3 E-02 1.2 E-01 26% 26%

Fossil resource scarcity kg oil eq 2.2 E-01 3.2 E-01 44% 43%

Total energy (CED) MJ 2.6 E+01 3.4 E+01 33% 32%

When pages are saved using duplex, the overall environmental profile decreases for both options. However, comparative results are slightly worse for the NBC cartridges than in the baseline (presented in the rightmost column in Table 9); the same percentage of paper has decreased for each option, but the NBC cartridge’s higher production and distribution impacts remain the same.

100%

+13%

+45%

+29%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

125%

150%

175%

HP Baseline HP To MSW @ EOL NBC Baseline NBC Recycled @ EOL

HP Baseline = 100%


DATA QUALITY REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION This LCA adheres to the ISO standards on data quality to help ensure consistency, reliability, and clear-cut evaluation of the results.

Temporal, Geographical, and Technological Representativeness Temporal representativeness describes the age of data and the minimum length of time (e.g., one year) over which data are collected. The data applied to this study represent current products and practices. The HP 80A and 83A and their NBC substitutes are used in popular printer models. The parts and materials lists (PMLs) provided by HP are current and representative. Waste management practices for the cartridges are based on the best available current data, as is the MSW management disposition percentages to landfill and WTE. The cartridge performance data came from a recently published study. Other cartridge specifications (electricity usage, etc.) are current. Energy and transportation data are mid-2010’s, and production data for materials are largely based on data sets ranging from the mid- to late-2010’s and beyond. The paper production data are based on primary data collected for production years 2006 and 2007; after rigorous checking during the 2017 external peer review process, it was determined to be the best data available in terms of representativeness and completeness, despite the age of the data.

Geographical representativeness describes the geographical area from which data for unit processes are collected to satisfy the goal of the study. Data for energy, materials, processes, and transportation are based on European sources. Paper production comes from U.S. and Canadian paper producers and represents average North American production. This data source is considered to be high quality, representing current technologies and primary data.

Technological coverage, corresponding to the time period of the data sets, is current. Technological data for most materials and processes are generally industry average, and in some instances, typical.

Consistency Consistency is a qualitative understanding of how uniformly the methodology is applied to the various components of the study. Consistency was maintained in the handling of the products as well as the approach to previous toner cartridge LCA studies.

Reproducibility The level of detail and transparency provided in this report allow the results to be reproduced by another LCA practitioner as long as the production datasets are similar.

Precision and Completeness Precision represents the degree of variability of the data values for each data category. Precision cannot be quantified for this study since only one set of data for each HP cartridge was provided. For the NBC cartridges, there is so much variability amongst practices that precision could not be explicitly quantified; however, sensitivity analyses were performed to address variation. Completeness is the percentage of flows that have been measured or estimated. The PMLs contain well-measured, accurate data. However, no other primary data was collected so an evaluation on completeness is not possible.

LIMITATIONS AND UNCERTAINTY General Limitations and Uncertainty It should be borne in mind that the LCA, like any other scientific or quantitative study, has limitations. While it provides an indication of the environmental impacts and attributes associated with product systems, it is a not a perfect tool for assessing actual impacts and attributes. This is true for all LCA studies. As is normal for an LCA, much of the data used for modeling the materials is secondary. Because the quality of secondary data is not as good as primary data, the use of secondary data creates some level of uncertainty since it may cover a broad range of technologies, time periods, and geographical locations. Furthermore, since hundreds of data sets are linked together and it is often unknown how much the secondary data used will deviate from the specific system being studied, quantifying data uncertainty for the complete system becomes very challenging. As a result, it is not possible to provide a reliable quantified assessment of overall data uncertainty for the study, but it is understood that each product compared possesses this similar type of uncertainty. Because of the uncertainty in the study, results within +/- 10% are characterized as on par.

Missing Production Data Similar to previous studies, a data gap has been encountered for cartridge manufacturing and assembly for both alternatives, due to lack of available data. The production stage of the cartridges included over 99.5% of the materials from the PMLs plus generic parts forming. While this is considered robust inclusion of the embodied materials in the cartridges, no specific cartridge manufacturing or assembly data was available. Differences between the HP and NBC cartridges in assembly practices were highlighted but unfortunately the lack of available data for both creates a data gap. Nonetheless, it is believed that this data gap does not affect the outcome of the study, and that uncertainty around this data gap is not so high, for the following reasons:

Because LCA normalizes products to a functional unit, the relative, not absolute, differences in impacts for products being compared are measured. Both cartridge options are manufactured with all new materials (albeit possibly different


materials), with parts forming consisting of similar and different processing. Only the net difference of these production data is an unknown, not the full production category itself, mitigating the data gap;

Often the bill of materials collectively embody higher environmental impacts than assembly, which represents only one portion of the production stage. So excluding the assembly data due to the lack of available data for HP OEMs and NBCs probably has little effect on the overall models.

Since the NBCs need to be replaced faster due to more reprinting, the NBC’s production results are larger relative to the HP cartridge. Filling in some of the data gaps will not change the production impact results in such a way that the overall outcome will be affected.

The results and sensitivity analyses have shown that the overwhelming contributor to the life cycle of the cartridges is paper consumption at the use phase, so the exclusion of assembly and other process impacts may not make a difference, although quantifying the magnitude of this uncertainty is not possible.

CONCLUSION The most current, available research and data on production, product quality, and disposition trends were used to model the life cycles of the Original HP cartridges and popular NBC cartridge substitutes. Reliability testing of these cartridges showed that Original HP exhibited more reliable output quality than the NBC alternatives. Based on these data, pages where quality was unacceptable for their intended use were assumed to require reprinting, leading to greater consumption of paper and printer energy. In the Use Phase, paper consumption during printing was found to be the largest contributor to environmental impacts for both the Original HP and NBC cartridges. Factors that influence the consumption of paper – in this case, quality of the printed pages – were found to have a controlling effect on life cycle environmental impacts. The baseline analysis demonstrated that the NBC’s poor print quality performance resulted in higher environmental impacts relative to the Original HP cartridge in all of the categories measured. For users who require the highest quality, customer-ready prints, the Original HP cartridge offers a clear environmental advantage. For users whose print quality requirements are much lower, where the quality is only good enough for individual use, the environmental impact of the Original HP cartridge was still found to be lower than the NBC cartridge, especially since the HP cartridge makes use of HP’s Planet Partners cartridge recycling program. None of the other sensitivity and scenario analyses that were performed affected the overall outcome of the results, further substantiating the dominating Use Phase and the environmental impact that a less quality print cartridge can have. The results have shown that the lower quality NBC is disadvantageous from an environmental standpoint, both for wasted paper and toner and also the cartridge itself: the lower quality performance of the NBC cartridge necessitates replacement more frequently than the HP cartridge. The higher level of reprinting leads to increased cartridge and paper purchases, so the initial low cost of the NBC may not necessarily guarantee savings in the long run. To conclude:

Environmentally based decision-making for cartridges should undoubtedly consider the cartridge’s reliability and performance during its Use Phase, given that:

o Paper use during printing is the overwhelming contributor to the life cycle environmental impacts of a print cartridge; and

o Factors that influence the use of paper – in this case, output quality – can have a controlling effect on life cycle environmental impacts.

The use of higher quality Original HP cartridges results in fewer reprints and less paper consumed, which lowers environmental impact and makes them a wise overall choice.

For the End of Life Phase of a toner cartridge, recycling and recovery of materials can be especially important in reducing its environmental impact.

The NBC cartridge can improve its environmental profile with improved printing performance and the ability to recycle at End of Life.


APPENDIX 1 SPENCERLAB PAGE CATEGORY EXAMPLES

External Use

External/Internal Boundary

Lower PQ - Internal

Internal/Individual Boundary

Lower PQ - Individual

Individual/Unusable Boundary

Figure 7 Print Quality Categoriesvi

*Note: Page scans may not be accurately reproduced when printed from this report.

**Scanned pages are for demonstration purposes only, and not specific to any single printer platform or brand in the study.


APPENDIX 2 SUMMARY OF DATA

Table 10 Summary of the Cartridge Data used in the Study

HP Cartridge NBC Cartridge PRODUCTION

Up

strea

m M

ate

rials

Pro

du

ction

The bill of materials was provided by HP in current Parts Materials List (PMLs). Over 99.5% of materials in the cartridge were included in the modeling.

The bill of materials was assumed to be identical to HP’s parts and materials for these cartridges. Thus, over 99.5% of materials in the cartridge were included in the modeling. It is acknowledged that NBC cartridges’ parts may be made up of different materials than HP’s.

Tra

nsp

orta

tion

to

Ma

nu

factu

ring

HP80A and 83A are manufactured in Japan and Virginia, USA.

Transportation of materials and components to final manufacturing is represented by global averages for materials by truck and other modes of transport.

NBC cartridges are manufactured in China. Transportation of materials and components to final

manufacturing is represented by global averages for materials by truck and other modes of transport.

Ma

nu

factu

ring

&

Asse

mb

ly

No data available on final steps of manufacturing including assembly, yet injection molding and other plastic parts forming data and steel and aluminum parts forming processes were included as data proxies to cartridge parts manufacturing. See Limitations section.

No data available on final steps of manufacturing including assembly, yet injection molding and other plastic parts forming data and steel and aluminum parts forming processes were included as data proxies to cartridge parts manufacturing. See Limitations section.

Pa

cka

gin

g

Packaging is included:xiii – Box / carton: corrugated paper (from recycled sources) – Composite plastic bag, composite air-filled bag – Pulp end caps: molded pulp / paper, assumed to be from

recycled sources - Polyethylene bag Online shipping exterior packaging: corrugated box with protective air bubble wrap

Packaging is included, and is modeled the same as the HP cartridges.

DISTRIBUTION

Distrib

utio

n to

E

nd

-Use

r

HP80A and 83A are manufactured in Japan and Virginia. Consumers purchase HP cartridges at a retail store or

online (assumed 50%/50%) Retail: weighted averages are taken for the cartridges to

be distributed: 393 mi (632 km) by truck and 7,232 mi (11,636 km) by ship to end-user locations in Frankfurt, London, Rome, and Paris.

Online: weighted averages are taken for distribution of cartridges: 7,232 mi by ship to EMEA. From there, they are transported through the postal service by truck and freight plane to the end-user locations.

NBC cartridges are manufactured in China. Consumers purchase NBC cartridges at a retail store or

online (assumed 50%/50%) Retail: NBCs are transported from China 10,002 mi

(16,093 km) by ship (calculated from Shanghai) to port of Marseille, France. Then transported 625 mi (1,005 km) by truck to the end-user locations in Frankfurt, London, Rome, and Paris.

Online: NBCs are transported from China 10,000 mi by ship to EMEA. From there, they are transported through the postal service by truck and freight plane to the end-user locations.

USE PHASE

Prin

ting

Paper Type: Standard 8.5 x11, 20lb (75gsm), copy paper. The electricity use by cartridge for printing was modeled

using HP’s specifications on power consumption:xiv - LaserJet Pro 400 M401 (80A): 570 Watts in print mode, 35

ppm output. - LaserJet Pro MFP M127fn (83A): 480 Watts in print mode,

21 ppm output

Paper Type: Standard 8.5 x11, 20lb (75gsm), copy paper. The electricity used by the cartridge for printing was

modeled using the HP printer specifications


Prin

t Qu

ality

D

ata

2016 SpencerLab Reliability Comparison study. Print quality distributionvi - 95.1% External use - 4.3% Internal use - 0.6% Individual use - 0.0% Unusable

2016 SpencerLab Reliability Comparison study. Print quality distributionvi - 46.8% External use - 46.7% Internal use - 6.1% Individual use - 0.4% Unusable

Pa

ge

s prin

ted

pe

r 10

0 u

sab

le pa

ge

s

2016 Photizo Group Customer Experience studyvii Page use data – 35.6% External use – 44.0% Internal use – 20.3% Individual use

Total pages printed to obtain the functional unit: – Baseline analysis: 102 – Sensitivity: all for external use: 105 – Sensitivity: all for internal use: 100

Sensitivity on use of duplex (double-sided printing): A weighted average of 11.4% of pages was saved using duplex on the LJ Pro 400 M401 and LaserJet Pro MFP M127fn printers.xii

2016 Photizo Group Customer Experience studyvii Page use data – 35.6% External use – 44.0% Internal use – 20.3% Individual use

Total pages printed to obtain the functional unit: – Baseline analysis: 128 – Sensitivity: all for external use: 215 – Sensitivity: all for internal use: 100

Sensitivity on use of duplex (double-sided printing): A weighted average of 11.4% of pages was saved using duplex on the LJ Pro 400 M401 and LaserJet Pro MFP M127fn printers.xii

END OF LIFE

En

d-o

f-Life

The HP cartridge is sent to the HP regional recycling center in Bretagne, France, which includes crushing, disassembly/sorting, and recycling.

An average of 71% of the cartridge materials is recycled, and the balance goes to WTE.xv No material goes to landfill.xvi

Includes transport of the used cartridge to Bretagne,

France. Sensitivity: HP cartridge is disposed of per user location average MSW dispositions (see to right).

NBC cartridge is disposed of by the end-user, and the population-weighted average user location MSW disposition is used (41% and 59%, respectively, excluding recycling or material recovery)xi Sensitivity: NBC cartridge is recycled.

APPENDIX 3 INDICATOR DESCRIPTIONS The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) categories evaluated in this study are from the ReCiPe methodologyxvii (except where noted below), and reflect a comprehensive set of environmental issues that cover different environmental media (i.e., air emissions, water effluents, waste, etc.) and endpoints (affects to vegetation, human health, etc.). By presenting results for a comprehensive set of issues, the reader will be able to understand trade-offs in the systems. This reduces the subjectivity of choices made during category selection.

Global warming measures the greenhouse gas emissions which have been generated by the systems and includes production of materials, production of paper, electricity during use, transportation and distribution, etc. The “greenhouse effect” refers to the ability of some atmospheric gases to absorb energy radiating from the earth, trapping the heat and resulting in an overall increase in temperature. Global Warming is also referred to as “Climate Change” or the “carbon footprint”. Global warming is reported in kilograms (kg) of carbon dioxide-equivalents.

Human Carcinogenic Toxicity and Terrestrial Ecotoxicity: Human toxicity provides an indication of the risk of cancer to human health, while terrestrial ecotoxicity provides an indication of the risks of damage to ecosystems on land. These are reported in terms of 1,4 dichlorobenzene equivalents.

Ozone formation, human health quantifies the potential for smog-forming gases that may produce photochemical oxidants or ground-level ozone. This is reported in kg of NOx equivalents.

Terrestrial Acidification quantifies acidifying gases that may dissolve in water (i.e., acid rain) or fix on solid particles and degrade or affect the health of vegetation, soil, building materials, animals, and humans. Acidification is measured in terms of kg of sulfur dioxide-equivalents.

Freshwater Eutrophication quantifies nutrient-rich compounds released into water bodies, resulting in a shift of species in an ecosystem and a potential reduction of ecosystem diversity. A common result of eutrophication is the rapid increase of algae, which depletes oxygen in the water and causes fish to die. Eutrophication is measured in phosphorous equivalents.

Fossil Resource Scarcity is the measure of the use – or depletion – of fossil fuels used in a system and is measured in oil-equivalents. Fossil fuel depletion tracks use of fossil fuels for energy as well as fossil fuels embedded in products made up of hydrocarbons, such as plastics.

Total Energy, reported in Megajoules and based on the Cumulative Energy Demand methodology,xviii includes not only energy for the cartridge to print but also the energy required to produce paper during use, all cartridge parts and materials, and transportation throughout


the supply chain. Total energy encompasses fuel energy, including fossil- and non-fossil fuels such as nuclear power, hydropower, and biomass, and embodied energy, such as hydrocarbons embodied in plastics.

Water Consumption, reported in cubic meters, measures the use of water in the systems and encompasses cooling water, process water, and any water use associated with the systems.

Endnotes

i Page yield is based on 5% coverage, per the ISO standard method for the determination of toner cartridge yield for monochrome laser printers. See ISO/IEC 19752:2004 -- Method for the determination of toner cartridge yield for monochromatic electrophotographic printers and multi-function devices that contain printer components. Actual use varies considerably. HP Page yield data found in product specifications published on www.hp.com.

ii NBC definitions supplied by: Supplies Sales Core Training presentation titled “Competition & Selling Against”, by Matthew Barkley (Ink) & Betsy Porter (Toner), dated March 11, 2014.

iii John Shane, InfoTrends, 2016. U.S., E. Europe, LAR Cartridge Collections & Recycling Refresh 2016. iv Based on a June 2017 phone conversation between Four Elements, LLC and a representative at Recology Cleanscapes, a state of the art recycling facility located in

Seattle, Washington. v ISO 14040:2006, the International Standard of the International Standardization Organization, Environmental management. Life cycle assessment. Principles and

framework. ISO 14044:2006, Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines. vi A SpencerLab 2016 study commissioned by HP compared Original HP Mono LaserJet toner cartridges with three non-HP brands of cartridges sold in EMEA for the

80A and 83A cartridge models used in the HP LaserJet Pro 400 M401and HP LaserJet Pro M127fn, respectively. SpencerLab Digital Color Laboratory (2016), Monochrome Cartridge Reliability Comparison Study – 2016: HP LaserJet Toner Cartridges vs. Eastern European Non-HP New Build Cartridges. For details, see: http://www.spencerlab.com/reports/HPReliability-EE-NBC2016.pdf

vii A 2017 tracking survey for EMEA conducted by Photizo Group and commissioned by HP. The survey responders were micro, small, medium, large, and enterprise business customers. Results based on 1002 HP monochrome LaserJet users who had used both Original HP and non-HP toner cartridges. Studies were conducted on-line by customers in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and the U.K. For details, see: http://photizogroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017_HP_EMEA.pdf

viii PRe Consultants, SimaPro version 8 LCA Software (Analyst). More information can be found at www.pre.nl. ix Ecoinvent Centre, Ecoinvent data v3 (Dübendorf: Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, 2013), www.ecoinvent.org, retrieved within SimaPro. x June 2010, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc., Life Cycle Assessment of North American Printing and Writing Paper Products – Final Report,

prepared for American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) and Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), found at www.afandpa.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/life-cycle-assessment-(lca)-final-report.pdf.

xi MSW management data based on population-weighted average of U.K. (38% LF, 19% WTE, 43% recycling, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-datasets/env18-local-authority-collected-waste-annual-results-tables); Germany (1% LF, 37% WTE, 62% recycling, http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/managing-municipal-solid-waste/germany-municipal-waste-management), France (28% LF, 37% WTE, 35% recycling, www.eea.europa.eu/publications/managing-municipal-solid-waste/france-municipal-waste-management), Italy (50% LF, 14% WTE, 36% recycling, www.eea.europa.eu/publications/managing-municipal-solid-waste/italy-municipal-waste-management). Recycling is not included.

xii Internal HP research on monthly print volumes and duplex rates for the LJ Pro 400 M401 and the LaserJet Pro MFP M127fn. xiii 2014 HP internal data. xiv Specifications found at www.hp.com. xv 2015 HP internal data. xvi 2014 HP Global Citizenship Report: www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/global-citizenship/reporting.html xvii Huijbregts M.A.J., Steinmann Z.J.N., Elshout P.M.F., Stam G., Verones F., Vieira M., Zijp M., Hollander A., van Zelm R. ReCiPe2016: a harmonised life cycle impact

assessment method at midpoint and endpoint level. Int J Life Cycle Assess (2017) 22: 138: ttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-016-1246-y It was first made available in Fall 2009 and has been fully updated in 2016. The default version for the midpoint method, the “Hierarchist”, was used. Please see www.pre.nl for more information.

xviii CED is based on Ecoinvent version 2.0 and has been expanded to include elements from the SimaPro database. Frischknecht R., Jungbluth N., et.al. (2003). Implementation of Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods. Final report ecoinvent 2000, Swiss Centre for LCI. Duebendorf, CH, www.ecoinvent.ch. See also www.pre.nl for more information.

http://www.hp.com/

http://www.ecoinvent.org/

http://www.afandpa.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/life-cycle-assessment-(lca)-final-report.pdf

http://www.afandpa.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/life-cycle-assessment-(lca)-final-report.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env18-local-authority-collected-waste-annual-results-tables

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/env18-local-authority-collected-waste-annual-results-tables

http://www.hp.com/

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/global-citizenship/reporting.html

http://www.pre.nl/

http://www.ecoinvent.ch/

http://www.pre.nl/

life cycle environmental impact study for europe, middle east … · life cycle environmental...

Documents